Press Release

Hillsborough Community College to Host Veterans Entrepreneurship Symposium

Saturday, October 26

Tampa – HCC is hosting a free event designed for veterans, active duty service members, and their spouses who are interested in starting up a business or for those that already have a small business.

The Veterans Entrepreneurship Symposium will take place on Saturday, October 26, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the HCC Dale Mabry Campus Student Services Auditorium.

Presented by TECO Energy and the Tampa Bay Rays, this event will provide information on available community resources and skill development and offer networking opportunities for those with similar interests. Veterans are among the nation’s largest group of small business owners and franchisees. HCC currently serves over 2,600 students receiving veterans’ benefits, hundreds more who have retired from the service, and a growing entrepreneurial community.

Some of the day’s sessions include the Tampa Bay entrepreneurial ecosystem, legal issues of innovation, and marketing your invention or idea. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in an “idea pitch” competition for cash prizes at the end of the day’s programming.

Gregory Celestan, chairman and CEO of the Celestar Corporation and chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber Board of Directors will serve as the morning’s keynote speaker. A nationally respected entrepreneur, Gregory retired from the U.S. Army in 2004 as a Lieutenant Colonel to form Celestar, a global defense contractor based in Tampa. Gregory’s leadership in the Army includes organizing and leading U.S. Central Command’s Coalition Intelligence Coordination Center at the Forward Headquarters in Qatar during Operation Iraqi Freedom and serving as the Team Chief of the Unconventional Targeting Cell during Operation Enduring Freedom.